When something is unique to a particular geographic area it is said to be endemic to that area. Not too long ago, while preparing for a lecture on Utah’s biodiversity, I was amazed to discover that Utah ranks sixth in the nation for its number of endemic species. Only Hawaii, California, Texas, Florida and Georgia have more. The Hawaiian islands are totally isolated –a factor that encourages endemics. California and Texas have enormous land area so I’m not surprised they have the space for more species to evolve. And Georgia and Florida are warm and wet states where you would expect biological richness! So what’s Utah doing so high on this list?
It turns out that our unique plants give us this high ranking. Utah has 2602 plants in all plus 393 subspecies or varieties. With 247 endemics Utah has an endemism rate of 8.2%. That’s pretty amazing.
Some areas of Utah have a lot more endemic plants than others. The Colorado Plateau in the south and east of Utah has the most. On the Plateau, erosion has exposed a long succession of different rock layers, and the rock has weathered into a patchwork of locally unique soils. Ecologists have found that isolated or peculiar soil types are like a nursery for endemics. Fine textured soils, saline soils or those that are highly alkaline are associated with highest levels of endemism.
Environmental extremes in the desert such as high temperature or low rainfall prompt evolutionary adaptations that eventually lead to speciation. For example, cushion plants are common on the Plateau—these are compact, low growing, mats often with large and deep tap roots adapted to slow growth in a nutrient- poor and water-restricted environment. In Utah deserts, many different buckwheat and milkvetch species adopted the cushion plant structure thus forming new species.
Variations in elevation can isolate species and create localized versions of widespread plants. High elevation areas can act as islands within the Colorado Plateau separating plants into distinct populations until they diverge over time. The La Sal, Abajo and Henry Mountains form mid-high elevation islands whose resident species are becoming more and more unique, forming endemics such as Chatterly onion, La Sal daisy, Cronquist’s buckwheat, Navajo Mountain penstemon, and Dwarf mountain butterweed.
We all know that Utah is a special place to live, but just knowing that our plants are so unique is another good reason to go out and explore.
Credits:
Photos: Courtesy State of Utah; Division of Wildlife Resources
Text: Stokes Nature Center: Jessica Welsh and Holly Strand
Sources & Additional Reading:
Stein, Bruce A. 2002. States of the Union: Ranking America’s Biodiversity. A NatureServe Report Prepared for The Nature Conservancy. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. https://www.natureserve.org/Reports/stateofunions.pdf
Callifornia Gull Larus californicus Courtesy and Copyright 2003 Jack Binch All Rights Reserved
Utah’s state bird is is commemorated as the seagull, more accurately the the California Gull. Known in Utah for having saved the pioneers from the Mormon cricket invasion of 1848 and subsequent years, gulls hold a hallowed place in local history.
Seagull is a generic term referring to gulls of all types. Gulls we are familiar with range from the small 11-inch Bonaparte’s gull with a 32-inch wingspan to the 20-inch Herring gull with a 55-inch wingspan. They are white, grey and some have black heads. Young go through phases giving them different appearances as they mature over two to four years depending upon the species.
Many Gulls migrate to parts of Utah and some pass through in their migration to more northern regions. Ring-billed gulls are here during the fall, winter, and spring. The occasional Herring or Thayer’s gull may visit us in winter. A few black-headed Bonaparte’s gulls pass through reliably in spring and fall during migration. Upon rare occasions, we are even visited by Herrman’s, Western, Glaucous, Glaucous-winged, Mew, yellow-footed , Sabine’s, Iceland, and lesser black-backed gulls.
In spring, the California gulls and the much smaller and black-headed Franklin’s gulls return to nest. They migrate from southern states or the pacific coast and raise their young locally on islands in fresh and salt water.
Gulls clean up. They frequent garbage dumps, and irrigated, plowed or manure-covered fields. These carnivores eat insects, worms, crustaceans, fish and the occasional french fry in a parking lot. Opportunistic, they watch and raid unprotected nests of other birds, eating eggs and young. Sometimes flying singly, they are more often found in flocks. In flocks they defend against predators by harassment and intimidation.
Thayer’s and Herring gulls have been known to use tools. They have been seen dropping shellfish on asphalt or concrete roads to crack them open and eat the contents.
At the store, take a moment to think about our state bird. In the dump, and in waterways, gulls can become entrapped in six-pack rings. Do your part to prevent this by cutting up these plastic rings before disposing of them. Or better yet, buy cans loose or in boxes instead of rings.
Text: Bridgerland Audubon Society: Lyle Bingham and Dick Hurren
A Moment to Think About Our State Bird: Additional Reading:
Utah Symbols – California gull
Utah State Bird – Sea Gull(The California gull, Larus californicus), Utah’s Online Library, Utah State Library Division, Utah Department of Heritage & Arts, https://www.utah.gov/about/state-symbols.html
Bonaparte’s Gull, Larus philadelphia
Bonaparte’s gull Larus philadelphia, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, USGS, https://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i0600id.html
Handbook of the Birds of the World 3: 609. Lynx Edicions. Larus thayeri (TSN 176828). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 10 March 2006.
Squash Bee Copyright 2007 Jim Cane All Rights Reserved
Utah’s wintry weather seemed interminable this year, but at long last, full summer is upon us. Balmy days ripen the bounties of our orchards and gardens, including vast quantities of squashes: zucchini, crookneck, banana, butternut, and later, the pumpkins for Halloween. Squashes require pollinators. . Foraging bees inadvertently move the pollen from the male flowers to fertilize female flowers. Such pollination by a bee will result in the seeds you encounter when you slice open a squash. Without developing seeds, no squash will form, so pollination by bees is vital.
New research is showing that a specific group of unmanaged native bees is largely responsible for pollinating our squashes, gourds and pumpkins. From Maine to California, and all around Utah, these so-called squash bees are busily visiting flowers of all of our squashes, from acorn to zucchini. In fact, they are only visiting these flowers, as these bees are strict floral specialists. Beginning at dawn, male squash bees can be seen darting among squash flowers, seeking receptive mates and the odd sip of nectar to fuel their flight. Females load up on nectar and the bright orange pollen to cart back to their nests. Unlike honeybees, each female squash bee has her own nest, consisting of a simple underground burrow. She provisions each of her offspring with a cache of pure squash pollen and nectar. By 9AM, their frenetic morning of foraging complete, female squash bees head home to rest and work on their nests. Through their early morning foraging activities, they daily pollinate each day’s new flush of flowers.
Zucchini Squash with Flowers
If you grow squashes, you are likely to find their flowers being visited by squash bees. Look for these bees around breakfast time, between sunrise and 8:30. They fly more quickly and deliberately between flowers than the slightly larger, later-flying honeybees. Unlike honeybees, female squash bees carry their pollen dry in a brush of hairs on their hind legs. Later, you may discover sleeping male squash bees by pinching the wilted, closed flowers. A drowsy buzz reveals a defenseless male squash bee sleeping within. There he will snooze until dawn, which brings a new flush of flowers, and with it, another chance for every squash bee Romeo to find his buzzy Juliet. All this drama, and you thought you were just growing zucchini!
Crop domestication facilitated rapid geographical expansion of a specialist pollinator, the squash bee Peponapis pruinosa, Margarita M. López-Uribe, James H. Cane, Robert L. Minckley, Bryan N. Danforth
Proc. R. Soc. B 2016 283 20160443; DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0443. Published 22 June 2016 https://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/283/1833/20160443.abstract
In this 30-second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, as seen from Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Courtesy NASA, Bill Ingalls, PhotographerThe Perseids meteor shower is one of the most popular events of the year for sky watchers. A meteor shower is simply an increase in meteor activity which is produced when the Earth passes through a trail of debris that is also in orbit about the Sun.
Perseids debris comes from the Comet Swift-Tuttle, the largest object known to make repeated passes near the Earth. Its nucleus is about 6 miles across. Most of its meteoroids are the size of sand grains; a few are as big as peas or marbles. When they enter Earth’s atmosphere, they are called meteors. Almost none hit the ground, but if one does, it’s called a meteorite.
The Perseid shower is detectable from July 25-Aug 20, but meteor activity rises sharply around Aug. 12. For example, on the 25th you can expect to see a meteor every hour. Maybe 5 an hour by the 1st of August, up to 15 an hour by August 10th. But then on August 12, the number will spike to 50 -80 /hour and in some years up to 200! Then the number will quickly subside until Aug 20, when you’ll be back to 1 an hour.
Perseid meteoroids are fast. They enter Earth’s atmosphere at roughly 133,000 mph– or 60 km per second. They also make a sound! Fast-moving meteoroids ionize the air in their path leaving behind a trail that can briefly reflect radio wave from TV stations, RADAR facilities or AM/FM transmitters. A “radio meteor” is the short-lived echo of a radio signal that bounces off such a trail. Scientists at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL have established a radio meteor monitoring system. Here’s what a typical echo sounds like against some background static:
https://www.spaceweather.com/meteors/audio/geminidecho.wav (Editors note: Content AWOL as of 8/2021
Original article quoting sound found at https://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/nasameteorradar.html)
See NASA Radio Meteors: https://science.nasa.gov/search?search_api_views_text=radio+meteors (accessed August, 2021)
Hmmm… Kind of reminds me of a whale song.
This year, August 12th features a gibbous moon which means lunar glare will wipe out the path of the smaller meteroids . You’ll want to find a spot in the moonshade which will minimize glare. Or you can watch during predawn moonless hours on August 12th which will be the peak of this year’s show. No worries for those of us who can’t stay awake past midnight though. There will still be so-called shooting stars even while the moon is out—just less than when the moon has set. Furthermore, Jupiter is almost opposite to the sun with the planet coming physically closest to the Earth in its orbit . That means good viewing as Jupiter will appear very large. Look for it together with the moon in the constellation Sagittarius in the southeast sky. Depending upon your viewing equipment, you may be able to see some of Jupiter’s moons as well as the Great Red Spot, which is a gigantic hurricane-like storm twice the size of Earth on Jupiter’s surface.
For a sociable viewing experience, sky watchers in Northern Utah are invited to the Stokes Nature Center/American West Heritage Center Star Party August 12th from 9-1. We’ll have powerful telescopes, experienced interpreters, and all sorts of fun activities for adults and families. For more information see www.logannature.org or www.awhc.org
